Passion and relevance are the qualities in a teacher that are extolled-and practiced-by Mike Hudecki, 1995 recipient of the SUNY Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Teaching, and research associate professor of biological sciences. Hudecki's skill in the classroom and dedication to teaching are balanced with his lab's ongoing research on the mechanism of muscular dystrophy.

Hudecki, 52, has been teaching for 31 years, from the time he was a graduate student, and has always aspired to reach students regardless of the class size or the class subject. "I taught embryology in 1979 and 1980 to a competitive group of premedical and predental students who were already thinking of the curtains they wanted in their office," he says. "I had to ask, 'What can I do to make this intriguing, stimulating, interesting?'" Another, perhaps greater, challenge is teaching "mega-classes," such as introductory biology, which may attract as many as 450 students. "It is challenging because of the sheer numbers," Hudecki points out. "You have to keep it interesting and stimulating, and still reach the individual students." He adds that although smaller classes offer a more "one-to-one" environment, larger classes can still be taught effectively.

To do this, Hudecki often uses case studies to "get the rubric in motion in an applied sense." It is important to keep things relevant, he says. "I will talk about diseases, their prevention, bringing in legislation, and the medical and legal issues." Case studies and role playing are ways to get the subject to "come alive," he adds. "If it doesn't come alive, then we are not doing our job."

Relevance was the key to the success of Frank McGuire, a history professor Hudecki fondly remembers. "He would come into class with bits of paper that were notes of things to discuss with the class, and involve everyone in role playing," Hudecki recalls. "In a class of 70 to 80 people, he would teach the Civil War by saying, 'You be a steel manufacturer in New York, you be a Mississippi farmer,' and so on, until it was relevant for all of us, and it came alive."

Hudecki's laboratory works on the development of an animal model that will help provide insight into muscular dystrophy. Using the mdx mouse, Hudecki is able to test the hypothesis that muscular dystrophy involves a deficiency in the protein dystrophin, which stabilizes muscle fiber membranes. His lab uses the model to characterize the disease, with the ultimate aim of developing a useful form of therapy for muscular dystrophy.

According to Hudecki, research and teaching can be complementary endeavors. "I find I use the scientific method often in teaching," he says. "When trying to describe AIDS, for example, I ask, 'What if you removed a particular type of cell in the immune system?'" In this manner, he elucidates a point of science, getting students to infer a response based on pointed questions, rather than having them rely on an existing description. Similarly, he points out, "My grants and papers are better written and more informative because of my teaching." Ideally, he says, the necessity that one be clear, organized and logical in teaching comes through in research, as well.

Some researchers pine for the absolute dedication to research that can be found at non-academic institutions. For Hudecki, however, teaching can provide a welcome respite from his often frustrating work in the laboratory. "Research advances move at a snail's pace; there are relatively few carrots at the end of the stick," he explains. "You may get a published paper, have experiments that suddenly work, or get data that show a new twist on something." But research work is also marked by the frustrations of rejected papers and fluctuating grants. "There is an immediacy in the classroom," Hudecki observes. "You make a point and you know the class has gotten it-you are able to ride the wave with them when they understand. This happens much more frequently than success in the lab." The "one-on-one with the class," he says, is refreshingly different than the "one-on-one with a whole field of research."

Hudecki currently teaches BIO 130, Perspectives in Human Biology, a biology course for nonmajors, among other undergraduate courses. "It offers a unique challenge, teaching people from humanities, dance, languages," he says. "People may not have any inherent interest in science, and you don't see any real achievement in the first few weeks. You have to create an interest in science."

It takes a lot of time to effectively prepare for a course; more so when teaching nonmajors in a newly developed class. "It takes five to six hours to prepare for one of these lectures, trying to anticipate things like Š silence!" says Hudecki, who also has administrative duties as executive officer of his department. "In a class of 40 to 50 students you may get 40 to 50 different answers when you ask what a cell is. You have to be ready for almost anything."